Table 4.
Percentage of Primary Care Physician Practices That Can Detect a 10% Relative Difference in Costs or Qualitya
| Practices, % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Care Physicians per Practice, No. | Period, y | Ambulatory Costs | Mammography | Hemoglobin A1c Testing |
| 1 | 1 | <1 | <1 | <1 |
| 2 | <1 | <1 | <1 | |
| 3 | 1.0 | <1 | <1 | |
| 2 | 1 | <1 | <1 | <1 |
| 2 | 1.1 | <1 | <1 | |
| 3 | 6.2 | 2.7 | 1.6 | |
| 3–5 | 1 | <1 | <1 | <1 |
| 2 | 10.5 | 4.4 | 2.1 | |
| 3 | 32.6 | 16.5 | 8.2 | |
| 6–10 | 1 | 8.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 |
| 2 | 53.2 | 32.4 | 17.9 | |
| 3 | 80.1 | 61.9 | 40.6 | |
| 11–20 | 1 | 50.0 | 26.5 | 12.2 |
| 2 | 90.5 | 78.6 | 58.7 | |
| 3 | 99.2 | 95.0 | 81.0 | |
| 21–50 | 1 | 94.4 | 84.6 | 64.3 |
| 2 | 100 | 97.9 | 92.3 | |
| 3 | 100 | 100 | 97.9 | |
| >50 | 1 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| 3 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| National | 1 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| 2 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 2.6 | |
| 3 | 12.1 | 7.9 | 5.2 | |
a
Results include the total number of primary care physicians who were affiliated with a single physician practice and saw at least 50 Medicare patients during 2005 (n = 71 980). No primary care physician practices of any size had a sufficient caseload to detect a 10% relative difference in preventable hospitalization or 30-day readmission after discharge for congestive heart failure.